Friday, December 31, 2004

Go read this post by this guy I linked above. I wish I hadn't used my joke down below about Jan Egeland being a heartless bastard until I saw what this guy Freedom Smith states and I quote:

"This whole earthquake/tsunami thing is horribly sad. The deathtoll seems to grow exponentially everyday. And the whole sad thing could have been avoided. You see, this was punishment from the Lord, but it was meant for America. God just has worse aim than an American missile system. It's hard to hit a target from Heaven, you know. Why is God so irate? Here are His reasons:

1. First and foremost, the re-election of George W. Bush..."

It goes on and on....

I just gotta say, is this whack job serious. Holy crap Freedom Smith, you are so weak.. Saying because the right wins control after the election, God caused a Tsunami to kill a few hundred thousand. Go be buddies with this guy... He could use the company.

Sorry Billy, you lose. You can take your browser back please. IE 6.0 is terrible. Pictures stopped loading on my Internet Explorer about a month ago. Why? Because of some 16 digit error that Microsoft Update doesn't have a fix for yet. Hey the pictures loaded before just fine. Now all I get is a red X. I tried updating firmware on my router, heck I even bought a new router. I tried updating my wireless devices. I disconnected everything, even tried on a different computer on dial up, instead of DSL and still, no pictures. So IE 6.0... Be gone you POS!!!

Mozilla Firefox is great. First off it is free! 4.7meg download, easy to install and use. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a billionaire with Asperger's Syndrome to use it. The pictures load with ease and no problems. It zips you around the net like nothing else. 15% of the last 100 people to see this blog are using it. It has been as high as 30%. 12 million downloads and counting.

RIP IE 6.0. I dare not delete you, though. What else would go wrong with my Microsoft products if I did?

PREDICTION FOR 2005: Google and Mozilla become one company. Google buys out major Satellite TV company (Directv or Dish Network) By year's end, 50% of the internet browser market is Mozilla Firefox, ripping majority share of the market Microsoft. (Because it's free) Bill Gates, however, still remains the richest man in the world accoring Forbes and his latest dividend adds another billion to the pile in his backyard up in Redmond.
Click this link to see what I think. I wonder if Bill will visit?

Thursday, December 30, 2004

First Jan Egeland says the donations by wealthy nations is stingy and then the UN says that nations are generous? (See above) Well, which way is it? An important leader of the UN makes a stupid stingy comment and then the UN comes back to supply some damage control. What are you afraid of UN? Pissing off America again? Maybe that is why we are in Iraq alone with Great Britain, Australia and Poland. ( I know there are others) Maybe if you did the right thing once and didn't screw up something like the Oil for Food program, for example. You only made the World's Enemies stronger.

The news out of the disaster stricken area is over whelming with news changing daily. In my opinion, the BBC has been reporting the news fairly well. I recommend their RSS Feed.

But why the stingy comment? That just pisses off the world. Here's my opinion on how the US is dealing with this catastrophy:
Imagine you live on a street with 20 houses, and you live on one end of the street. Well disaster happens to a house at the other end. Let's say the roof blew off that family's house. And you have to drive by and see this disaster. You hear from neighbors around your street that they lost their pets and the man of the house is out of a job. They have no where to go. They are hungry. Their baby is sick...etc. All kinds of horrible things. You don't know the people that had this happen but you feel you need to do something, anything you can. So do you, as a good samaritan, start writing checks to these people? Hell no.... First you assess the situation. Maybe you talk it over with other neighbors. You talk it over with your family. And then you PLAN what you are going to do and maybe work with others to do it.

Does the world expect the US to cough up billions immediately with out no plan or reason? Of course not, we don't know the full extent of the situation. We don't know anything yet. I am sure when it is all said and done, America and it's friends are going to look generous. And I am afraid, the UN, is just going to look worse than it already does. Sorry, libs... I said it. Sue me!

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

There is a possibility that hundreds of thousands of people are dead or injured and severely displaced by probably the worst natural disaster in modern history, and this guy is calling countries (namely the US) "Stingy"?

Monday, December 27, 2004

My wife and I were heading to Lowe's this evening to look a bathroom stuff when I saw some red brake lights that seemed to go up, then go down. Turns out it was a head on collision between a Jeep Cherokee and a old Chevy Blazer. The Blazer was upside down. The thing had totally rolled over and there was a lady trapped inside screaming. Of course, I stopped to help as I am not a heartless bastard. I quickly said,"Hey I am on it, I got a cell phone right here" furiously dialing the number. But.... then to my shock, my cell phone did not go through! Two more innocent bystanders we're trying on there phones, and they couldn't get through. This went on and on.

The lady was trapped in the car, seemingly calming down but still in a big state of panic. Man, now my wife and I were feeling the adrenalin. She was very calm, assisting those involved, making sure no one tried to move the lady. I was helping cars pass by, still trying the phone. The drivers of both vehicles were wandering in shock, with the poor lady trapped inside. A whole 5 minutes went by before we got through to 911. A couple of rude people sped by nearly clipping other cars. Finally just when the sirens were within an ear shot, the lady trapped shouted the name of the intersection which to me sounded like a "Hey I'm ok".

The trucks came. The situation was being handled. And, whoa... what a crazy thing to experience.

So I got home, looked on the net here and found this scary thing on Consumer Reports regarding cellphones and 911. Click on the scary thing link and see just how safe you are with that cellphone. Run to someone's home, it is always the best!

Sunday, December 26, 2004

My 914 Porsche, repainted. I had wrecked it in August. A taxi driver ran a red light at the bottom of Lombard St. destroying my rear quarter panel and mangled my bumper. Thanks to AAA for not totalling it! Turns out it was a good omen. My friend Pat, did all the body work and painting, repairing rust, discovering more rust, than repairing that rust. Took this picture on Christmas Eve in Murphy's CA. What a great Birthday/Christmas present combo. (see this blog)

Side view of my 914. I used the original color, Ivory White, and Phoenix Red for the trim. I am going for the limited edition 914 look as seen here. I never liked the vinyl you see on nearly all 914's . Once we painted the trim spoilers and rocker panels, the top had to go the same color instead of the original black.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Who knew?
So I am browsing the net looking for more ways to attract find readers like yourself to this site. My goal is simple a paltry 200 to 500 visitors a day with regular visitors coming back. For example, if you like the little RSS orange thing on the bottom you can add me to your book marks.

Anyhow so I go to this site for a free web site analysis to tell me about all the egghead shit I need to know about "getting people" here and low and behold I am pissing off the British Government What the hell is that? Some blind limey couldn't access a web page so he sued and won. That dick. ( now I am a racist against the British)

I know, I know, don't make fun of people with disabilities but sheesh, isn't that pushing it? I can totally see a blind guy using a computer. Braille keyboards, Speak N Spell voice and a HUGE magnifying lense. I have seen it done seriously and I am sympathetic to the plight of people with disabilities. But.... Couldn't you classify a website as art? And if a website is art couldn't you say so what, it's art?

I saw a huge statue in front of Davies Hall in SF today that was totally modern. (kinda gay actually). Davies Hall is disabled person friendly. Ramps and Elevators for days! I performed once there with this guy and I remember people in wheel chairs and hearing impaired stations. And hey, its in Frisco, the far left of the US. The most all kind of people friendly city in the world (socialism sucks). But the statue, in all its beauty and form is NOT compliant with little blind British kids who might want to access it.

Monday, December 13, 2004

I admit, I gave him the benefit of doubt. I watched him in 2002 saying he had nothing to do with it. I listened to the critics analysis of all the circumstantial evidence around the guy in early 2003 and still believed he was innocent. Then his last mistake of not using enough concrete... The bodies wash up and well, busted. I lost all interest in him actually being innocent. The sick bastard. And don't tell me he didn't plan it. You take up a fake hobby like fishing, take a small boat into the bay with fresh water bait (?) and leave the bodies there? He must have been afraid of a drought? Why not dump her in a lake by Modesto?

The whole crime is utterly disgusting. How do you take your pregnant wife, knock her out or strangle her while she is looking you in the eyes? This method was the most probable choice since there was no blood evidence or sign of a struggle. Clint Eastwood I think said it best in one of his famous lines in the movie "Unforgiven". "(It's a darn) thing killing a man, you take away all he has, and all he ever will have." This applies to this case to the tee. How do you take away a life of an unborn person, namely your son? There are no happy memories of first words, first ball game, first day in school, first car, first girlfriend... You take away those memories from him and the others who would have loved him. Namely Grandparents, Laci, Aunt's, Uncle's, cousins..etc. If you ever think about killing your wife or unborn child, it is time to get help and fast. Sad to say but maybe divorce was the better alternative. Stupidity isn't an option. He was leaving Laci for that paradox, Amber Frey??

The hardest thing for me came today. I personally could not sit on a case where the death penalty would be involved. I realized a few years back and this is kind of weird for a Republican voter, but if I was Pro-Life, I had to be against the Death Penalty. Most conservatives are for the death penalty, yet I side with liberals on the issue. Liberals are usually Pro-Choice and against the death penalty. Also conflicting. My view is simple though. If you are Pro-Life from the beginning you gotta be Pro Life at the end. This means no abortion. This also means we continue as we do now, to produce medicine and develop cures, even for people very late in life. When a person is born, society should be structured for everyone to live. I know that isn't really easy to wish but it's true. And if someone creates a dispicable act such as murdering your wife and unborn child, punishment should be life! Living a full life in a place of hell like prison is a better punishment. Why? Again going back to Mr. Eastwood... You take all they every will have. That means no bad experience like hell on earth, AKA being a Prison bitch!!! The guilty man should feel the pain of society, no less, not even death.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

December 25th.... Born on Christmas Day. A Christmas Birthday, yippee. Why me?

Luck... no. No way!! I think my mother had me induced because the doctor was leaving for Hawaii or something. My poor, old mom seizing the opportunity. Gee thanks!

The novelty worked for me growing up, however. I was the youngest in my immediate family. We always got together during my birthday. No one ever forgot. And I did get double gifts for quite a few years there. Ok... maybe I was spoiled a bit. Hey I didn't care, I was a kid. In retrospect, I guess I appreciated it. My mom always threw a birthday party a few weeks before. I always had a birthday cake. No pumpkin pie with a candle like those other stories I have read. I got real birthday cards and birthday wrapping paper. I never minded that my birthday gifts were under the tree. The jealously of my peers when I had my birthday AND Christmas on the same day was always a plus when they saw the double gifts you got. I had bragging rights.

There is a point when the novelty wears off. It's called adulthood. This is when the attention gets well... tired. When you pay for something or go to the DMV and the "smart one" behind the counter notices and says, "Oh look, a Christmas Baby".
My favorite responses:
1. As I live and breath...
2. Oh you noticed and acknowledged it, Thank you. Most people forget during that day.
3. Since when do babies get credit cards/licenses/etc.
4. I smile and think, "You bitch"
5. Lucky me, born on Christmas, I am special. What did I win?

But when someone does say, "Oh look, a Christmas Baby" the next worthless piece of small talk that usually comes is either... "I'll bet that sucks" or "I know someone born 3 days before/after Christmas and they say it sucks" But they never say they know someone born on Christmas. Actually I have never met someone born on Christmas so I can't have the privilege of telling someone else that it sucks and know that from personal experience. I wonder if others in my situation feel the same way. Think about it. You have something and people tell you it sucks. They don't and never will have what you have. Yet they comment on it like it's the plague.

Another thing that sucks having a birthday this day is the doomed feeling you perpetually have with getting older: You cross sad milestones during the happiest time of the year. Think about this for a minute. When you are a teenager you can't wait to turn 16 so you can drive. You couldn't wait until you turned 18 so you could be legal and vote Republican. Then you can't wait until you turn 21 so you can go to that bar with your older brother on New Year's. But then, like last year for me... You turn 30??? What do you get out of that? A gray hair? You still get carded to remind you how old you really are. The guy that cards you always says, "Whoa sorry, I bet that sucks." What next 40? 50? And all these happiest days of your life occur on Christmas. Thanks again Mom.

Lastly, what about the freebies you get for your birthday? The free meal at your favorite restaurant? Nope, they are closed. How about that free car wash on your birthday? Nope not here, they are closed. Ice cream? Nope... All closed on your day. All the free marketing stuff these businesses give for birthdays, wow not today. Did these businesses know they are disciminating against a small portion of the public? I should get a coalition of people born on Easter, New Years Day, February 29th and Christmas and make our 1% count and get our free stuff. We make exceptions to the blind and deaf or the handicapped. We didn't choose to be born on these holidays. We were born with it. It's an impediment. And those smart clerks who read our driver's licenses and point us out like a different nationality? Isn't that discrimination? They tell you it sucks or they tell you about a relative "born near it" like it's a side of town you don't want to live. And those bosses who give you the day off on your birthday? Do you get a second day? Hell no... Because your business is closed on Christmas anyway. Sucks to be you, Christmas Baby.

Monday, December 06, 2004

The link above provides before and after photos of the guys who got "pumped up"

Barry is innocent. Seriously... This autograph dodging, racist is innocent of all this steroid talk.
We have to believe that BALCO is full of corrupt guys, making products, that produce super athletes for the world to enjoy. We have gotten fast Olympic runners, bigger (not better) linemen for the Raiders and a best of the best from the bay area in baseball (McGwire, Giambi and Bonds). All for us to watch and worship. What for? Money. BALCO is in the business of making money. You produce big name athletes, you reap the rewards of everyone else wanting to "be them".

Did steroids help Barry? While on CNN/SI I noticed Barry hit no homers over 450 feet before 2000 and has hit 21 over 450 feet. Should the Giant's rename McCovey Cove to Barry's Juice?
I think we'd go too far.

Barry has skills. He can see the ball better than anyone in the league and has developed one of the best swings baseball has ever seen. The guy is a contact hitter... with lots of power. Take Mark McGwire on the other side. He admitted he took Andro-testosterone but probably... did not know it was a "steroid" since it was "legal" to take in Baseball...(But not in other professional sports). The dude bulked up big after 1995. See http://www.apechild.com/celeb/mcgwire.phpYet, when he batted he swung off his ass to hit towering fly balls. Most of the time when he was out, it was a fly ball to the outfield or struck out. Look at his stats between 1989 and 1991 http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcgwima01.shtml Look at that 22 homer year in 154 games. Then he gets hurt, then 1996 comes and he goes 52, 58, 70 and so forth. Roids helped Mark get over the wall. Then he retires, early?? Why? No andro and he, being from the bay, he knew what BALCO was upto? Giambi idolizes McGwire, so he does the same? Barry, his stats, http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bondsba01.shtml totally different. The dude was walked 872 times the last 5 years. The guy has 600 more walks than Mantle with only 1000 more at bats. An astounding 1000 more walks than Mr. October, Reggie Jackson. Both Jackson and especially Mantle, would have taken steroids to enhance their careers if they were readily available as they are today. Mantle and Jackson are power hitters who struck out way more than Bonds. In fact, if Bonds plays 2 more years he'll easily beat Jackson's strike out total of 2597 with his walk total. You cannot compare Bonds to anyone except maybe Ruth. Would Ruth have taken the needle late in his career if he could?

Barry is a big enough dick to be ignorant. Listen to the guy talk. He is ambivolent to the world around him. He ignores the media and has heated recliner in the locker room. Seeing and hearing the guy in the news makes me believe that he has no idea except that he won't give money to white people. See http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/03/BALCO.TMP

"One, I'm black, and I'm keeping my money. And there's not too many rich black people in this world. There's more wealthy Asian people and Caucasian and white. And I ain't giving my money up."

So Barry gets a few more homers but he still finishes over 600 without steroids and the world would never no different. He is an asshole!!

Sunday, December 05, 2004

The author here, me, is completely sympathetic to the plight of all religions, whether it is "society's" right or wrong. I have the utmost respect to devoted people. However...

The door bell rang yesterday morning, Saturday... Around 9 AM. I normally ignore all people that knock at my door on a Saturday morning because it is either a bothersome neighbor kid selling something or somebody lost. It's never what you expect. So why answer? I mean at least my sister in law call's before she comes over that early on Saturday. I was down stairs in the TV room when the bell rang. The Westminster chime I installed the previous week bellowed through the halls of my 90 plus year old home. The dog barked, which was a good sign I probably didn't know the person at the door, and I really did not want to get it. So I ignored it. The Westminster chime bellowed again and my wife called out that she was in the shower, which blew the illusion "we weren't home" completely out the window. I mean both cars are in the driveway. Anyhow, in my slow climb upstairs hoping the solicitor would leave I noticed my wife running to the door soaking wet, but fully dressed. I heard the hello's and thank you's and my wife's apology for being in the shower and she accepted this month's ad for the Watchtower.
Jehovah's Witnesses. Uggh... Couldn't they see the Christmas tree.

A funny experience a few years back... We were living in our old house a couple blocks away and my wife was away getting groceries or something, so I was outside mowing the little lawn we had on the sidewalk frontage. It was warm, I had the windows open in the house and I thought,"What the hell..." I put in Metallica's And Justice For All... and proceeded to trim the yard. I had a manual push mower so I can hear every beat from Lars, every shriek from James, every strum from Kirk and well... you still can't hear Jason's bass on that album because the band hated him even then. Heck he was the new guy on that album since the bus crash killed the other guy . Anyhow... suddenly from behind I was approached by two old ladies. They were kind and asked if the woman of the house was home. I said, no just me. "Oh"

She proceeded to talk about salvation and what not and was offering me books to read, all while "One" is blasting behind us right where James is screaming "Darkness, imprisoning me..." I so wanted to laugh... but I was so polite and respectful. I could only imagine what they were thinking. I mean the song is about someone imprisoned by disability, no arms, no legs, no eyesite, no hearing... I am sure they felt they were in hell's front yard.

The Jehovah's Witness plight seems good. All they want to do is "save you" their way so you can go to Heaven during Armageddon. Their whole goal is to save everyone they meet on their outings. Usually on their outings they are paired and sometimes you'll have an "elder" and a young member. What an honorable plight, seriously...

Until you read what I spent the afternoon reading. They think everyone else is part of Satan. You, Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Mormons, Buddhists, Hebrews, Muslims and etc. They hate everything these religions stand for. The bible was wrong so they have their own interpretation which has 300 known bad translations in their favor. They snub their noses at family members who aren't JW's. They will not help the sick, destitute and poor who are not affiliated because they feel that they are contributing to Satan. The kick out members who smoke. They don't celebrate anything. They isolate their kids from school sports, plays, music and any worthwhile extra curricular. All this because everything not Watchtower is Satanic which won't allow them to be with God in Heaven when Armageddon happens. According to the Watchtower the world will end in 1975. 29 years and waiting.
read: http://www.cftf.com/miller/index.html Ralph Miller spent his life with the JW's and what a horrific realization he came to late in life!

All along the watchtower,Prisoner's kept in view,Wild women came and went,Barefoot servants too.Outside in the cold distance,a wild cat did growl,Two riders were approaching,And the wind began to howlAll Along the Watchtower--Bob Dylan

On a lighter note, we apparently have wa-a-a-ay more to fear than Armageddon. This site offers light-hearted what if's about the end of the world. The half oil thing is frightening as well as the dumbification of the human species. http://www.xs4all.nl/~mke/exitmundi.htm freaky!!!

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

So I cruise over to Tower Records for my ritual that I have done since I could drive. I bought the new U2 album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb". I have bought all the albums since Achtung Baby on the first day of release. I don't usually do this anymore with any other group since I have gotten older. I was the first person in Stockton to buy the 1st Beatles Anthology in 1995, I even got my picture and name in the paper. I was a local hero for one day. I actually needed to be the first person to buy that anthology because I did a presentation on John Lennon the next day and I desperately needed the "Free as a Bird" on CD. My professor had grown up in the Beatle times and I thought it was cool to get the CD days after the song came out on TV. This was wa-a-a-y before Napster or KaZaa. In fact, KaZaa would really suck on that 28.8bps modem I had back then on my 486 66mhz Packard Bell with an upgrade to 8 megs of RAM. I was the first to get 8 Megs of RAM as well.... I am totally digressing...

Yesterday's experience was quite a bit disturbing. I went to a Tower in the Sacramento area to buy my new U2 experience. I proceeded to the NEW RELEASE section and found a big display. Tower was confident in selling these CD's. There were lots. In fact there were three versions of the CD. One was just the CD. Then there was one with a CD and DVD limited edition package. Then there was one for the big collectors with a book, CD and DVD clearly labelled at $29.99. I pulled the CD/DVD combo pack out of the $11.99 slot, and then proceeded to check out. The girl at the check out was clearly at her first job post high school. She was new at the very least. She rang it up for $15.99 plus tax. I said, "Whoa its like, $11.99 back there." Now, I feel after buying quite a few hundred CD's in my short 30 year existence on this planet that I was ready to correct the young lady, just as I had helped the woman in front of me with the name of the group who sang 1985; Bowling for Soup. "Are you sure?" she says. "What?" I said, "The Bowling for Soup thing or the price of U2 because the Bowling for Soup thing is all over MTV2." She looks on the computer and wow, look there $11.99.

"I have to get my manager." she says.

So I wait. And wait. Hey it's four bucks. That is a quadruple percent Venti Mocha, sans whip cream. Less than 2 gallons of gas. A pint of Guinness at the bar...

Out comes a guy hanging on to his late 30's by the short ones, with really screwed up hair, reeking of cigarettes--both the legal and illegal ones. "Yeah, I am the manager."

So I presented my dilemma in my U2 purchasing experience.

And the bastard cuts me off and says "That one is $15.99, it's not priced, but that's what it is, there are 3 versions, do you want that one?"

Okay, the issue at hand here wasn't which CD I wanted but rather what price the CD I wanted was. (I love that sentence) So I took Mr. Dazed and Confused over to his store's CD rack and asked him to show me where it says $15.99. "I see 3 versions, but 2 prices, $11.99 and $29.99, show me the $15.99 price, the CD isn't even labelled with a price." I demanded.

"Oh it's a mistake, $15.99" the walking Cheeto says.

I gaze back at the register where the woman buying the Bowling for Soup CD is making small talk and rolling her eyes about me at the post-teen jockeying the register.

This is where I say, What the Fuck? Seriously people, we'd all use that phrase or some derivative of it right here and now no matter which red or blue state we lived in. I did nothing but question 4 bucks. 4 measley, stinking dollars. Their mistake, I caught them, F-You, $15.99, BS.

Tower Records is one of the biggest retailers, created right here in Sacramento. I can see the original store if I stood on my roof, its 8 blocks away. And they are going through Chapter 11 right now. There are plans to destroy one of the last independent theaters, Tower Theater, right above the old store.

Why are they in Chapter 11? Because of weed I guess. The dude running a store is addicted to hippy lettuce. The girl behind the counter sucks down X and goes to raves. This is what is left at their stores? This urban sub culture that was too cool for school? No wonder they went BK.

And why do we suffer bad experiences at record stores like this? Because no one gives a shit anymore about copyright. (Read http://www.copyright.gov/title17/ it is scary because we all break the law daily and the fines are HUGE!!!) We download and trade songs. I don't think we steal as much from the rich artists as we do the poor retailers. Of course, we could go online and buy by the song on Apple. But then we'd only buy the songs we'd want and then the artists will get pissed because they couldn't make albums, destroying their art and what not. Then the whole system would be screwed and we'd probably get crappy bands because there was no money in it.

U2 with their much deserved record deal from selling 100 plus million records probably makes 25% of Retail list price at $15.99 or roughly 4 bucks. I guess my 4 bucks paid their royalties.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Holy Crap!!! This may also fit the scarciest site as well. For the people in the blue states, if you think Bush is bad for our country, just turn over to the other side and take a look at Kim Jung Il and the almost daily news that comes from this "democracy". Just take a look if you would at the news it broadcast on the 13th of November :

Mongolian Paper Discloses U.S. Plan to Make Nuclear Strike at DPRK Pyongyang, November 12 (KCNA) -- A Mongolian paper carried an article titled "The U.S. intended to make a nuclear strike at the DPRK" on November 9. It said: The Washington Times recently obtained a secret document disclosing the fact that the U.S. intended to make a nuclear strike at the DPRK in 1998. U.S. bombers were making preparations for it in North Carolina according to the "Operation Plan 5027". A south Korean lawmaker said that the U.S. planned to make a nuclear air strike at the DPRK as early as in 1994.

So Clinton planned a Nuclear Attack? Wow... he was the devil. We Americans are missing something. I searched the Washington Time to track down an article for the truth. Unfortunately, it seems to have been removed or is missing.

Think of the postitives if you would of absolute power in a country:

Every Vote Counts: Especially if they are for you, the absolute leader and you usually win 99% or more of the vote. And if you vote for the wrong guy, if there is another guy on the ballot, you won't have to vote again. How can you vote, without the use of your arms?

No stupid stadium names: Think of the ramifications for sports fans everywhere. Candlestick Park in San Francisco would not have a stupid name like it does now due to corporate sponsership. Our beloved home of the 49ers would not be called Monster Park (Not for their Monster season... When is Miami coming to town?). Kim Jung Il Sports Complex. The Ball Park near Hussein's. Ayatollah Arena. Awesome!!

Obesity solved: No more pot bellys, love handles or cellulite. Everyone would look like Mischa Barton. Well maybe not in the good way. 10 million people are starving themselves thin. It's the North Korean Low Carb Diet. You are lucky if you have a carb a day to eat. And lots of excercise for no disposable income for that greasy fast food.

No celebrity crimes: No excess from success. No stories like ODB, dead at 36 from CRACK. No OJ trials. No Hasselhoff/Betty Ford reunions. In North Korea, there are only 3 celebrities you need to know and they are conveniently featured here. http://www.korea-dpr.com/threegen.htm All named Kim for your convenience.

World Leaders fear you: Let's face it. Kim Jung Il is one scary mofo. Japan fears no one but North Korea even though we have Japan's back. South Korea has a demilitarized zone, instead of a line. China has people fleeing to it!!! If people are fleeing your country to live in China because of better human rights and for better economic conditions, you are a bad ass. You tell the US weekly that they ain't shit and personally condemn the US for what we've done to Iraq with a near threat of war, even after Bush says you are the member of an Axis of Evil?
Proof:

U.S. Madcap Arms Buildup under Fire Pyongyang, October 29 (KCNA) -- The U.S. madcap arms buildup of an unprecedented scale now under way in south Korea under the pretext of the "cutdown of its troops" and their "relocation" is a dangerous military action which can be seen only on the eve of a nuclear war of aggression against the north, observes Rodong Sinmun Friday in a signed commentary. Aegis destroyers belonging to the U.S. 7th Fleet were recently deployed in the East Sea of Korea for an actual war which have already begun performing operational duties and one squadron of F-15E fighter bombers of the U.S. air force and other ultra-modern weapons and operational equipment were deployed in south Korea, the commentary notes, and goes on: This is a move to bolster its forces for aggression and a prelude to a new war of aggression against the north. The news analyst goes on: The U.S. is now busy creating an environment for provoking a nuclear war of aggression against the north and inventing a pretext to pressurize it while deliberately setting afloat the story about a crisis. This irrefutably testifies to the fact that the second Korean war which would bring a nuclear holocaust to the Korean nation is neither hypothesis nor an far-off event but imminent. The DPRK can never remain a passive onlooker to the U.S. and the south Korean warlike forces' reckless arms buildup intended to stifle the DPRK by force. It is its legitimate right to increase self-defensive deterrent force both in quality and quantity.

CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and the big three should be all over this. Oh wait, the Peterson Trial is taking up this time.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Yes, I thought I'd include album reviews here as well. I think my wife and I have collectively 1200 cd's from various genres ranging from classic rock, rap, country, rock and even classical and opera.

One purchase recently in my book sticks out above 95% of our collection: American Idiot by Green Day, the loveable punks from Berkeley. Definately a giant leap forward from a band that I always knew we'd get a lot more than warped adolesence and habitual drug use from. The album to me has a fantastic plot line that sounds like someone you grew up with or that went to your school growing up. Maybe even someone you know now that hasn't grasped how to make it in our complex society. American Idiot has some serious political overtones about our society and inherent polarity in our two party system. The title characters: Jesus of Suburia is an obvious kid left in the wake of divorce. It's amazing how our society almost martyrs its children.
St. Jimmy is maybe a disciple or even brother of the previous character searching for identity. Then there is the rock n roll girlfriend these guys chase throughout the album all leading to either the "death" of St. Jimmy or maybe Jimmy growing up. I still haven't decided.

What I was intrigued about before I bought the album was the two 9 plus minute songs. They are really almost a collection of melodies similar in style to the last half of Abbey Road. (Editor's note: I am in no way comparing Green Day to the Beatles) The first one, The Jesus of Suburbia borrows a lot from music I have heard before. I hear some West Side Story with the 2 plus 3 beat in the "I don't care" section of the tune. Similar melody to Ring of Fire from Johnny Cash in the "Broken Home" section of the tune. Green Day passes from punk to art rock back to punk seamlessly throughout the record. Nothing is better then when great bands make great records. I'd like to see them do this record live. Their energy as a live act could really propel this.

Billie Joe has always impressed the hell out of me as a song writer. He's right up there in my generation with Kurt Cobain from Nirvana as one of the best songwriters since 1990. Very natural talent for melody in his vocals. Green Day's choice of instrumentation surrounds this perfectly. I truly dig the acoustic guitar Novacaine. The changes in that song surround a painful frustration in those lyrics. It's a war from wanting a cure to ignoring the cure. (sounds like the theme song of a previous blog) Extraordinary Girl is a song that again reminds you of the Beatles.

This is definately a hard CD to take from the deck as you'll let it play over and over.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Today I was in a Carl's Jr. drive thru getting lunch. For some reason, when I get into these drive-thru's, I like to study the process. Each fast food has their own routine. Some take your money before they give you food. Some give you your drink, take your money and then make you wait for the next batch of fries or something. Some ask you to call a number if you are asked to pay a different amount then the one showing. Some even have a timer above the window, showing you how long your order is taking. Some, frighteningly enough in Southern California have bullet proof glass!!!! 99% of all drive thru's have a left turn into them. There is a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Sacramento with a right turn and they take your money through the passenger side. Amazing. Some even have cameras in the speaker so they can see the car you are driving, and they actually comment on it, which is a frightening experience. Especially when its Starbucks and they have your Triple Venti Low Fat Mocha with no whip scream ready for you as you pull up.

Drive Thru's have good days and some have bad days. Some have a smooth flow and you can feel it because you are constantly moving. Others make you wait. Some scare me because the speaker is busted and you think your order is screwed or they don't give you a total and ask you to pull forward, which leaves you in total limbo, especially if the speaker is screwed. Efficiency is a key and it is something you begin to trust when you cruise through the drive thru.

Today, however was a bad day at this particular Carl's Jr. Why? Because they screwed the process by putting too much shit in the way. For starters, the left turn is narrow as hell. The SUV loving tree hugging yuppies in Sonoma County can't hang these corners. Many Tahoes take three point turns to cut the corner. Tons of scrapes on the far right side of the turn. I wonder how old ladies do it in Buicks. Secondly, there is a newspaper rack... just a bit out of reach. I understand the franchisee's need for profit centers in his business but a news paper rack. I witnessed the guy behind me lose balance pulling the spring loaded door, thus causing him to insert more coins. Then, after you have got your paper, made the turn, ordered and denied the voice in the speaker's feeble try at super sizing your order for 39 cents, you reach the spot before the window where you pay, where you see.... THE ATM MACHINE!!! This is here for all the fools that pull into the drive thru line that don't have the money. You know the feeling where you are looking under the floormats for the last quarter while you hold up the line four car lengths from the window, thinking you are saving everyone behind you time. Stop wasting time and slide the plastic! Of course the ATM is just out of reach of most of the people on the planet. But, still as it was, the tiny lady in the big ole Tahoe had to get the money in front of me. It was kinda comical at first because she leaned all the way out to slide the card. Then she had to key her pin and so while leaning out the window she opens the door to reach further, slamming her head and her door into the ATM, dropping her ATM card under her SUV. It was kinda funny seeing this while I was waiting, reading the headlines of the newspaper in the rack outside my door. Well finally she pulled forward slowly while putting everything back in her purse. She approached the drive up window ever so slowly handing the money to the cashier. Then the funniest thing I had ever seen occurred. The drive up window person dropped the lady's food. No joke. The thing dropped right under the door of the SUV, between the two tires. The bag was oblong like a football so it travelled pretty far. If I had been enjoying my soda at this point, I would have shot it through my nose as I laughed so hard. All I could see through the tinted Tahoe's windows was the lady miming "What do I do now?" The drive thru window person, in perfect comedic timing, gave that "I speak no English" look back. Then the door opened to the SUV, right into the drive up window for dent number two.

What happened here? Are we really into the demise of western civilization? We are so over-glutton for profits we make big huge SUV's for tiny people to drive. We fill ourselves with the appettite for high margin fast food. We don't want to get our asses out of our big SUV's to order this food, so we cram them into drive thru's built in the compact car era of the late 70's and early 80's, where we run into technology built for the 21st century, the drive up ATM and these drive thru's are run by people who will work for minimum wage. I see no solutions here. If we raise minimum wage the drive thru won't get any faster or easier to manuever. If we remove technology from our lives to keep it simple, we will not progress. Nobody wants to go back to there Gremlins and Mustang II's of yester-year. Heck, everyone knows you can't even park them SUV's easily so why close the drive through. We've outgrown our world. I am glad I told drive up window person that I didn't need to super size it but I am sure next time they'll be a new profit center for that lady in the Tahoe to stumble through.

Monday, November 08, 2004

Giving this blog-thing a try. I find it facsinating that you can type random shit and there are millions of people surfing the web that will read it.

Have you ever had a headache? Seriously... and blistering, head-splitter right between the temples. This is me most days. Why me? I don't have a clue. Started back in early March with something that felt like an earache that came and went. Loud noises drove me nuts. I started my HMO regiment to health care during this time. What a riot! First, I was diagnosed with an earache and I got those antibiotics that make your pee stink. I went through this the next week or so and then... nothing, earache and now a headache that came and went. So I went back to my HMO practitioner and we went over my symptoms. We apparently got to the end of his knowledge and he was like," oh you need to see the ear nose and throat doctor". I thought to myself as this guy searched the hospital computer network looking for my illness, this guy is a doctor, more educated than I ever will be, and he was baffled. So a few weeks later, still in some pain, I got to see the ENT doctor. And he determined my biggest fear... "Not my department, its for the Neurologist to look at." Funny, how these HMO's seem like department stores. They are convenient for one stop shopping, but I'll be damned if they'll help you outside of their department. So I, with my ear pain thing and the headaches, got my appointment slip and some more drugs to take home. Drugs are bad, but they are sort of cool in a way. Vicodin helps you forget pain for a few hours. And when you have no pain you feel better. And when you feel better you leave the doctors alone. Unfortunately drugs like Vicodin have side effects, like addiction and paranoia. Paranoia fortunately set in before addiction. I was paranoid that I was addicted. Paranoia set in when I tried to see how long I could go without dropping a Vike before the pain from the headache came back. That is never good. However, the bottle did say, take one tablet every four hours for pain. So if you are in pain within 4 hours what do you do? Wait? They are for pain. Finally, the day came and I saw the Neurologlist. He was nice. He had the goal to test me for everything. I gave 4 viles of blood, had a TB test and I even got a cat scan. I was quite proud actually to take all these tests. I sure hoped a failed at least one, one of the easy ones, like a viral infection or something. But no... I passed. Clean bill of health except for my ear pain/numbness and the afternoon pressure cooker that I call a brain. I got some more Vicodin and "some pills to help me relax (sleep)". WTF was the Vicodin for? And WTF are anti-depressants gonna do? Give a 30 year old man, menopause? Doctors at these HMO's draw me to one conclusion, they give you drugs until you go away. And you either live with euphoria from the drugs or you suffer in line waiting for the next appointment to get more drugs. They call them prescriptions but seriously I think they are grease for the squeaky wheels. I often wonder, 7 months later, after all this started, what my medical bill would be if I didn't have insurance. Thousands? Maybe. Maybe it's cheaper to treat me with drugs than it is to cure me. After all the HMO is trying to make a profit. Maybe I am lucky, I have insurance. There are starving people from China in this country that would love to have my insurance. Free health care for everyone. Ok maybe not, the Chinese grow the opiates to make Vicodin, thus by weakening our economic power with standardized health care for everyone, we'd ship our pharmaceutical jobs over seas to make Vicodin cheaper. Go with me on this. We'd have to buy the tariff ridden drugs back from our former US company that is based in China, with no standardized government health care. Have we not learned that we should not succumb to the power of a weaker Asian economy? Does anyone own a Honda? Could creating a health care plan for all American's to enjoy and the costs that go with it send more jobs over seas to keep costs down? Can you imagine the tax or the cost structure to pay our doctors to keep America healthy? Doctors ain't cheap. The first doctor I saw didn't know shit but I am sure he vacations well. And what about the ENT doc? Or the test giving Neurologist? Those specialists aren't thrifty either. I am sure the best ones don't work for nothing. You think doctors do what they do for the love of it or the money? See what happens when you remove the choice of money. Amazing... I'll stick with my HMO, at least the drugs are cool.